The Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver

[SpS4]

No. Don't stress. You've got an offer of admission and right now that's all that counts.

Thanks!

[Bilk]

What if our admissions page doesn't have the "accept" or "decline" button? Are admission decisions still being made?

[dan451]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat, no buttons at the bottom of the page at all. Should I read anything into that?

[Current Korbel Student]

What if our admissions page doesn't have the "accept" or "decline" button? Are admission decisions still being made?

Admissions decisions are on-going. We had a huge increase in applicants this year so things are in process. I promise to update here as I find out.

Edited February 13, 2010 by Current Korbel Student

[Current Korbel Student]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat, no buttons at the bottom of the page at all. Should I read anything into that?

No. The admissions process is continuing. Please be patient for an answer either way and I promise to update here as I find out.

[Current Korbel Student]

Still waiting for a reply and the admissions page doesn't have an "accept" or "decline" button? Don't panic - decision are still being made. Those that have a choice of "accept" or "decline" have been extended an offer of admission. Those that don't are still in process.

[dan451]

Still waiting for a reply and the admissions page doesn't have an "accept" or "decline" button? Don't panic - decision are still being made. Those that have a choice of "accept" or "decline" have been extended an offer of admission. Those that don't are still in process.

Thank you, that's a relief!

[scholl43]

I just noticed the buttons too. Glad I read this thread.

[Bilk]

The admissions buttons showed up on my page today!!

Hurray!

[fadeindreams]

The admissions buttons showed up on my page today!!

Hurray!

Congrats!

I'm still holding out hope that the lack of any news/updates to my admission status does not mean I have been denied. Waiting, waiting, waiting...

I hope that, whatever the news, they are done by the end of today. I just want to know whether or not I'll be in Denver next year. If not, I get to wait until March for the other schools I've applied to. If it weren't for my only marginally acceptable cumulative GPA I wouldn't be worried.

Has anyone received a denial yet? Denials often go out last...or at least at the university I attended for undergrad!

Edited February 15, 2010 by fadeindreams

[SpS4]

Congrats!

I'm still holding out hope that the lack of any news/updates to my admission status does not mean I have been denied. Waiting, waiting, waiting...

I hope that, whatever the news, they are done by the end of today. I just want to know whether or not I'll be in Denver next year. If not, I get to wait until March for the other schools I've applied to. If it weren't for my only marginally acceptable cumulative GPA I wouldn't be worried.

Has anyone received a denial yet? Denials often go out last...or at least at the university I attended for undergrad!

I had the same concerns as you and called Admissions last Thursday -- the person I spoke with told me that they had received so many applications this year that the admissions office is essentially "behind schedule." So instead of getting all admission decisions out by early Feb. for those who applied by the priority deadline, they expect it to take until the end of the month (again, for those who applied by Jan. 15). Hope this helps with the waiting...it definitely helped me since I thought I might be out since I didn't hear anything from them in "early Feb."

[fadeindreams]

I had the same concerns as you and called Admissions last Thursday -- the person I spoke with told me that they had received so many applications this year that the admissions office is essentially "behind schedule." So instead of getting all admission decisions out by early Feb. for those who applied by the priority deadline, they expect it to take until the end of the month (again, for those who applied by Jan. 15). Hope this helps with the waiting...it definitely helped me since I thought I might be out since I didn't hear anything from them in "early Feb."

UGH! So I should stop obsessively checking my status online? I've entered my pin so much it's become the first thing I type when I move over to the numpad for anything (dates, calculations, etc). I still have a sneaking suspicion I won't get accepted but I suppose checking obsessively won't help at all. They wouldn't have put me in this state had they not sent us the email saying "early February" shortly after applying. That would have been a good time to address their increase in applicants! I was looking forward to my Korbel admission decision being a gauge of sorts for my other applications...

I think I'll call today anyway. I appreciate the information all the same.

[Current Korbel Student]

The admissions buttons showed up on my page today!!

Hurray!

Congrats! I hope I see you here and make sure to join our Facebook fan page where you can get updated on everything going on at the school. http://www.facebook.com/josefkorbel

[Current Korbel Student]

UGH! So I should stop obsessively checking my status online? I've entered my pin so much it's become the first thing I type when I move over to the numpad for anything (dates, calculations, etc). I still have a sneaking suspicion I won't get accepted but I suppose checking obsessively won't help at all. They wouldn't have put me in this state had they not sent us the email saying "early February" shortly after applying. That would have been a good time to address their increase in applicants! I was looking forward to my Korbel admission decision being a gauge of sorts for my other applications...

I think I'll call today anyway. I appreciate the information all the same.

I did list on this thread back in December that we had a huge increase in applicants and this year would be more selective than previous - but we all agree the situation with increased applicants could have been addressed better. Rest easy knowing Admissions is doing everything they can to get everyone's decisions out to them as soon as possible. To be fair all schools are running behind - this has just been a crazy year with so many more applications than everyone expected.

Regardless - I wish you the best of luck. Let me know if I can help.

[fadeindreams]

I did list on this thread back in December that we had a huge increase in applicants and this year would be more selective than previous - but we all agree the situation with increased applicants could have been addressed better. Rest easy knowing Admissions is doing everything they can to get everyone's decisions out to them as soon as possible. To be fair all schools are running behind - this has just been a crazy year with so many more applications than everyone expected.

Regardless - I wish you the best of luck. Let me know if I can help.

My main problem, really, is that Korbel Admissions decided to send us an email in late January saying that application decisions would be delivered in "early February." I think we can all agree that early February is at least any date in the first half of the month. That notification made me anxious to hear the results. Once Valentine's Day rolled around, and it was evident that the results wouldn't be until the second half of February, you can understand that some people were upset. I am not particularly upset. I have worked in college admissions. I know how this all goes.

My suggestion to the Admissions crew at Korbel would be that they should notify people that it's taking longer than expected. Directly. Not through a proxy such as yourself. If they could batch email us the first time saying "early February" they could certainly batch email us again saying:

"For the Autumn Quarter 2010 intake we received a higher volume of applications than normal. We are trying our best to review these applications in a timely manner. Our goal is to have all admissions decisions done by (the end of February; specific date)." Add something in about being blessed with so many qualified/outstanding applicants and you've got yourself a proper notification, compliments and all. Leaving us on the end of a rope waiting for this long isn't necessary.

All the same, I really do understand that the volume of applications at ALL grad schools is up this year. Especially for professional degrees. I'm trying my best to wait patiently.

[fadeindreams]

Do you know if they are sending out denials concurrently with admits? Should we assume that the longer the process goes along the less likely it is that we will receive a positive decision? Any insight is appreciated. Maybe they are just going through the files in alphabetical order? Or processing those that qualified for one of the automatic scholarships first?

[La Voz]

At least Korbel is a good month or so earlier than other schools.

In my experience (i.e., last year), denials come at least a week after acceptances. Some acceptances do run late, but very few.

[fadeindreams]

Buttons appeared on the bottom of my page. I can't even begin to convey how excited I am right now...

Good luck to those still waiting.

[Current Korbel Student]

My main problem, really, is that Korbel Admissions decided to send us an email in late January saying that application decisions would be delivered in "early February." I think we can all agree that early February is at least any date in the first half of the month. That notification made me anxious to hear the results. Once Valentine's Day rolled around, and it was evident that the results wouldn't be until the second half of February, you can understand that some people were upset. I am not particularly upset. I have worked in college admissions. I know how this all goes.

My suggestion to the Admissions crew at Korbel would be that they should notify people that it's taking longer than expected. Directly. Not through a proxy such as yourself. If they could batch email us the first time saying "early February" they could certainly batch email us again saying:

"For the Autumn Quarter 2010 intake we received a higher volume of applications than normal. We are trying our best to review these applications in a timely manner. Our goal is to have all admissions decisions done by (the end of February; specific date)." Add something in about being blessed with so many qualified/outstanding applicants and you've got yourself a proper notification, compliments and all. Leaving us on the end of a rope waiting for this long isn't necessary.

All the same, I really do understand that the volume of applications at ALL grad schools is up this year. Especially for professional degrees. I'm trying my best to wait patiently.

I hope to have more information for you all later today or this evening. Thanks for everyone's patience.

[La Voz]

A question for current Korbel students:

With the cost of 2-year tuition being roughly $70k, and the best scholarship available being up to $30k for the same time period, how does the Korbel body deal with the rest of their tuition expenses?

• Are there other scholarships from UDenver that I'm not seeing?
  
• Outside scholarships/fellowships/aid?
  
• Good ol' loans?
  
• Work? And is working the first year discouraged or is it feasible?
  
• Is panhandling allowed on street corners in Denver? Can I make a fair amount doing that?
  

[flyers29]

A question for current Korbel students:

With the cost of 2-year tuition being roughly $70k, and the best scholarship available being up to $30k for the same time period, how does the Korbel body deal with the rest of their tuition expenses?

• Are there other scholarships from UDenver that I'm not seeing?
  
• Outside scholarships/fellowships/aid?
  
• Good ol' loans?
  
• Work? And is working the first year discouraged or is it feasible?
  
• Is panhandling allowed on street corners in Denver? Can I make a fair amount doing that?
  

Unfortunately there's not a lot of help outside of those scholarships (if you're eligible, I wasn't). 2 avenues I can recommend: 1) Work study, which gets you $5000 a year (you can also apply for an extension when your funding runs out, don't know how often it gets granted as I didn't do it). 2) Take 18 hours (instead of the usual 15) and you get out a quarter early, saving about $12k total.

Also, Denver's mayor has some campaign to eliminate homelessness over the next decade, so don't know how well you'll be able to panhandle.

Edited February 16, 2010 by flyers29

[La Voz]

Unfortunately there's not a lot of help outside of those scholarships (if you're eligible, I wasn't). 2 avenues I can recommend: 1) Work study, which gets you $5000 a year (you can also apply for an extension when your funding runs out, don't know how often it gets granted as I didn't do it). 2) Take 18 hours (instead of the usual 15) and you get out a quarter early, saving about $12k total.

Also, Denver's mayor has some campaign to eliminate homelessness over the next decade, so don't know how well you'll be able to panhandle.

Thanks for the reply, flyers.

Is working the first year discouraged, or is it fairly feasible assuming you limit yourself to part-time (<20hrs/wk)?

[fadeindreams]

Under the FAQ in the Careers section of the website there is a guide for part-time employment. You can find that here http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml.

The existence of that guide would make me think that part-time employment is not discouraged. However I have no idea how common it is for students to maintain a part-time job. Hopefully a current student will answer your question.

[flyers29]

Thanks for the reply, flyers.

Is working the first year discouraged, or is it fairly feasible assuming you limit yourself to part-time (<20hrs/wk)?

Work-study is certainly encouraged, though DU limits you to 20/hours a week (except during holiday breaks where you can work up to the full time load of 37.5).

[Current Korbel Student]

Hey everyone - here's a message to your from the admissions office. I hope this helps.

Greetings from the Josef Korbel School’s Graduate Admissions Office,

It has been brought to our attention that many of you would like an update from our office regarding the review process and we are happy to provide additional information.

Perhaps we were overly optimistic in November/December when applications began accumulating by setting the goal of notifying applicants of the committee’s decision by early-mid February. While many applicants have received notification, there are quite a few of you out there awaiting an email/letter…an update of some form or another. We can imagine that this is an incredibly stressful time for all of you but rest assured that our committee is maintaining an impressive pace in reviewing the record numbers of applications we’ve received.

One area that may need some clarification is what constitutes a complete application. This not only means you’ve submitted your application but all of your supplemental materials have also been received and processed. This includes test scores, letters of rec, transcripts, etc.

While time seems to be standing still, we respectfully request that you hold tight and know that we are conducting thorough reviews which, while time consuming, is well worth the effort as we shape our incoming autumn cohort. You will be hearing from our office in the not too distant future if you completed your application on or before our priority deadline.

Kindest regards,

Brad Miller, Director of Graduate Admissions

Nicole Vilegi, Associate Director of Graduate Admissions